Walking the Talk, Part One
I never imagined that I would follow in my father’s footsteps as the volunteer leader of a hospital board of directors. Like him, I am not a health care professional. I am a community resident, mother, spouse, attorney, and user of South Shore Hospital. I am proud to be part of a board entrusted with being good stewards of a precious community resource. We do our job by assuring that our hospital puts patient care first, maintains the highest standards, focuses on the health needs of the people of our region, and has the best professionals associated with it.
When we say “there is a difference” at South Shore Hospital, it is more than just words. It means that, in every way, those who turn to us for care will experience a real distinction in the quality of our people and programs, and in what we do and how we do it. Many health care organizations talk the talk, but few walk the talk like South Shore Hospital.
Getting that way wasn’t easy. Staying that way is even tougher. We made great strides last year to sustain our many positive differences.
We invested in quality care, including top doctors, nurses, and other staff, as well as in the latest technology. These advances make it possible to offer complex and sophisticated care not found in the community hospitals in our region. And the care is delivered in ways that are more personalized, accessible, and less costly than in academic medical centers.
We’ve emerged as a regional “destination hospital,” not only for those who live and work near South Weymouth, but for increasing numbers of people who travel an hour or more for our advanced care. We attribute our ability to draw patients from an ever-widening region to two factors: prudent investment and growth in services that patients need, and increasing public confidence in our ability to provide services consistently and expertly.
We earned top marks. South Shore Hospital this last year earned one of the highest scores ever received -- 99 out of 100 -- by any hospital from the most respected and widely recognized independent hospital review agency, the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations.
We are never satisfied. The people of this region may trust our hospital’s quality, but we know that patient satisfaction must be earned every day … one patient at a time … every time. And, like all hospitals, needs exceed our ability to fund them. Nonetheless, investments in programs, talent, technology, and facilities improvements are necessary, and our mission and community trust inspires us to overcome obstacles that have weakened many other health care organizations.
We see tomorrow as more important than yesterday. We took two big steps this year to maximize our opportunities to keep South Shore Hospital moving forward in the future.
The first was to assure continued stability and uninterrupted vision in our executive leadership. Key appointments were made with an eye toward the future. Our long-time and dynamic president, David T. Hannan, led an effort to assure continuity, that resulted in his being named to the new role of vice chairman of the board for strategic planning, while remaining president/CEO of the hospital’s parent, South Shore Health and Educational Corporation. Meanwhile, Richard H. Aubut, formerly executive vice president/chief operating officer, was appointed president/CEO of South Shore Hospital, responsible for hospital operations as well as serving as executive vice president of the parent.
Our second action was to create a multi-year roadmap to help assure that we not only sustain “the difference,” but advance it. Our new strategic plan continues our focus on our core services: emergency, maternity, pediatric, surgery, medicine, and home health/hospice care. It also calls for big advances in the following areas:
- Introducing an advanced stroke care program
- Augmenting our trauma care service
- Enhancing our diagnostic imaging/radiology abilities
- Attracting even more top-notch surgeons, obstetricians, and other clinical talent
- Growing our neonatal intensive care program
- Expanding cancer care, including offering patients opportunities to participate in oncology clinical trials in association with Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
- Enhancing our cardiac care, including opening a cardiac evaluation unit, and expanding availability of primary angioplasty.
Your hospital is passionate about walking the talk every day. If you would like to help or if you want more information, a good place start is our website, southshorehospital.org.
Atty. Jacqueline H. Haley
Chairman of the Boards of South Shore Health and
Educational Corporation and South Shore Hospital